Wanted to see if I could find some feedback on the bioengineering program at NEU. Right off the bat, I notice that it is not ABET-accredited. Is that a work in progress, and does it even matter?
The undergfraduate program in bioengineering is new in the past few years. No program can be accredited until the first class has graduated. Accredidation will be sought once this has occurred. Applying for and being denied would be a huge embarrassment and Norheastern will put resources into this program to see that accredidation is granted at the first opportunity.
@TomSrOfBoston thanks, as always very helpful. Perhaps current students can offer some insight into their experiences with the department so far?
FWIW, the entire department isn’t new. The bioengineering department has been around for awhile with faculty and a PhD program for years before they added the undergraduate bioengineering degree.
My daughter started as Bioengineering, very excited about the program, very certain that was what she would stay with it. After the first semester, she moved to Mechanical Engineering. Absolutely nothing against the program, she just realized ME was a better fit. She said it seemed like all her Bioengineering classmates were planning on med school or immediately going on to masters programs. She plans to work after she gets her BS for a medical device company. She thinks she can get there just as well with a ME degree, plus have more options if it doesn’t pan out. The only SNAFU was she came in with Calculus I & II credit and the third math in the sequence for Bioengineering is different than all other engineering majors. So, she took a math class that “doesn’t count,” expect for the fact she LOVED the professor and it has been her favorite class thus far. Dr. Nikolai Slavov was her professor. She said if she could take him for every class, she would.
@palm715 - that’s probably a very solid choice by your daughter. In general, bioengineering is considered the “least employable” engineering major (remembering that this is relative to other engineering majors), in part because it gives a broad skill set that isn’t necessarily what employers are looking for in fresh grad employees. The best prospects for bioengineering come from getting a graduate degree in the field, which is seems like both your daughter and her classmates were quick to figure out. If she wants to work in medical devices, mechanical engineering is a great way to go. If she decides later that she wants to go to graduate school for bioengineering, she can also do that with a mech eng undergrad degree.